The Archaic Smile

I've often wondered about the Archaic Smile - what does it represent? You can see a real Archaic smile here:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=archaic+smile&qpvt=archaic+smile&qpvt=archaic+smile&FORM=IGRE


I tend to think of it as an supercilious aristocratic smirk that I associate with a previous boss! But there are many interpretations.  

What does it mean to you?

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From Wiki:

The Archaic smile was used by Greek Archaic sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the 6th century BCE, possibly to suggest that their subject was alive, and infused with a sense of well-being. To viewers habituated to realism, the smile is flat and quite unnatural looking, although it could be seen as a movement towards naturalism.

There are alternative views to the archaic smile being "flat and quite unnatural looking". This is how John Fowles describes it in 'The Magus' "...full of the purest metaphysical good humour ........timelessly intelligent and timelessly amused. .......Because a star explodes and a thousand worlds like ours die, we know this world is. That is the smile: that what might not be, is ....... When I die, I shall have this by my bedside. It is the last human face I want to see."